India Issues 3-Day Ultimatum to Mark Zuckerberg: Fix Lapses or Lose Legal Protection

India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and a high-level Parliamentary Committee have issued a strict three-day deadline to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The government has summoned Meta’s global leadership team to New Delhi for high-stakes meetings following severe platform moderation failures, warning that Meta could lose its vital "safe harbour" legal immunity in India if it fails to take concrete action.

The immediate trigger for the government's crackdown was the sudden removal of an official Facebook video posted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding national exam paper leak reforms. The video remained blocked on the platform for nearly five hours. While Meta issued an apology attributing the incident to an automated algorithmic glitch, the Parliamentary Panel, chaired by MP Nishikant Dubey, rejected the explanation as unacceptable and demanded a personal apology from Zuckerberg alongside proof of system corrections.

At the center of the standoff is Section 79 of India’s Information Technology Act, which grants social media companies "safe harbour" status. This legal shield treats platforms as neutral intermediaries, protecting companies and their executives from direct criminal liability for content posted by users. If India revokes Meta's safe harbour protection, the company will lose this legal shield and can be held directly liable in Indian courts for illegal material hosted on Facebook and Instagram.

Indian lawmakers expressed deep anger over what they termed algorithmic bias and double standards. Parliamentarians questioned how Meta’s systems were quick to restrict an official video from the Prime Minister, yet continuously fail to stop Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), deepfake financial scams, and online abuse targeting women. The panel also directed Google and other major tech firms to enforce strict, time-bound measures against illegal content.

With Meta’s top global executives now arriving in New Delhi to meet with government officials, the company faces intense pressure to demonstrate immediate compliance. The outcome of these discussions will determine whether Meta can retain its legal immunity or face unprecedented legal challenges across India.